[1][2] The goal of the standard is to provide for continual improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and the reduction of variation and waste in the aerospace industry supply chain and assembly process.
[3] AS9100 replaces the earlier AS9000 and fully incorporates the entirety of the current version of ISO 9001, while adding requirements relating to quality and safety.
Major aerospace manufacturers and suppliers worldwide require compliance with AS9100 as a condition of doing business with them.
Large aerospace companies then began requiring their suppliers to develop quality programs based on ISO 9001.
[8] As aerospace suppliers soon found that ISO 9001 (1994) did not address the specific requirements of their customers, including the DoD, NASA, FAA, and commercial aerospace companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney, they developed AS9000, based on ISO 9001, to provide a specific quality management standard for the aerospace industry.
The major American aerospace manufacturers collaborated to develop a unified quality standard based on ISO 9001:1994, which led to the creation of AS9000.